Designed by Safdie Architects in partnership with the Sociedade Beneficente Israelita Brasileira Albert Einstein, the medical school will be an extension of the Albert Einstein Hospital

Marking the first collaboration between the Sociedade Beneficente Israelita Brasileira Albert Einstein and Safdie Architects (SA), the Albert Einstein Education and Research Center (AEERC) broke ground today in São Paulo, Brazil. As part of the Albert Einstein Hospital, the AEERC will be one of Latin America’s most advanced institutions for medical study. Facilities will feature leading innovations in teaching technology and flexible research laboratories designed to adapt to evolving techniques. The project integrates the key activities of teaching, research and innovation initiatives, essential for the Einstein Health System’s mission of excellence and commitment to improving the health of the country as a whole.

Anticipated for completion in 2021, the development, known as the Cecilia e Abram Szajman Campus, will be constructed by Racional Engenharia of São Paulo. The campus will be a new landmark in São Paulo—located adjacent to the Einstein Hospital in the city’s Morumbi district. Safdie Architects’ design features external and internal gardens integrating the center’s landscape and architecture with the surrounding greenery, as well as an innovative atrium roof and shading system that adapts to São Paulo’s varying climate.

“The new Albert Einstein Education and Research Center will provide an oasis from the busy life of the city,” said Moshe Safdie. “Our design fosters an imbued sense of calmness – a lush indoor garden with landscape terraces, replete with informal meeting areas and classrooms, are set beneath an inventive approach for the glass roof which evokes the feeling of being under a shading tree. We are honored to design the Center, which will educate and empower the medical leaders of tomorrow,” said Safdie from his office in Somerville, MA.

"Knowledge is fundamental to the present and indispensable for the future. It is the knowledge that produces qualified professionals, innovations and intelligent solutions to move towards an increasingly sustainable health care system that combines quality, less waste of resources and is able to meet increasing portions of the population," said Dr. Sidney Klajner, President of the Sociedade Beneficente Israelita Brasileira Albert Einstein. "In the area of education, our main project for the near future is the construction of the Cecília and Abram Szajman Campus, which includes the new Education and Research Center, housing the Jewish School of Health Sciences Albert Einstein, as well as research activities. How are we going to make it happen? Following the same path that made Einstein what it is today: sharing our project with people who want to be part of it and contribute to its realization.”

Dr. Claudio Lottenberg, Chairman of the Board adds, “Moshe Safdie and his partners are our ideal collaborators in the design of this project, as their creations are both functional and beautiful. They have designed spaces that go beyond meeting human needs – they have created an uplifting atmosphere that supports the center’s mission and aspirations. We look forward to our continued work with Safdie Architects on this project, and to shaping a new generation of international health practitioners together.”

Connected to the Hospital building by a bridge over Avenue Padre Lebret, the new 23,282 square meter medical school will continue the Hospital’s legacy as a leading institution in Central and South America.

In 2016, the hospital introduced the medical degree program which will be housed in the AEERC once the complex is complete in 2021. Medical and Nursing degree and postgraduate programs will be offered to approximately 4000 students in the new complex. For nearly three decades, the hospital has also offered a nursing degree.

As of 2017, the Faculty of Nursing will enroll two classes of students annually. Current enrollment is 250 students, growing to a total of 400 students.

Architectural Design

Safdie Architects’ designs span many scales, geographies and typologies, but are connected through their prioritization of inclusive public gathering spaces and deep, meaningful connections with their environment. They create projects that reflect and respond to the distinct essence of each site, which encompass local and regional characteristics of landscape, climate, and culture heritage. Their designs incorporate greenery throughout, building on the founding notion of “for everyone a garden,” to provide spaces for peaceful reflection in an urban context.

Drawing on these principles, the firm’s design for the AEERC embraces the site’s sloping hillside and lush landscape. The building is organized into two distinct wings, one for teaching and one for research, connected through the Garden Atrium at the heart of the building. The main activities of the center – auditorium, cafeteria, classrooms, labs and offices – are focused around a series of stepped terraces within the Garden Atrium. Featuring a diversity of native Brazilian flora species, as well as a soothing water feature, the Garden is the physical and symbolic centerpiece for all activities of the Albert Einstein Education and Research Center.

The upper terrace contains an open exhibition space; the terrace below features a 400-seat auditorium surrounded by the administrative and teaching facilities; and the lower terrace encompasses the AEERC’s restaurant which overlooks the garden that extends outside the building. The Center has been designed to achieve LEED Gold certification.

The Alzira Denise Hertzog da Silva Education Building contains the main teaching spaces, including education spaces for nursing, medicine, graduate programs, medical residency, and technical and refresher courses. The Moise Safra Family Building is the main research hub for the campus. Spaces include a wide range of laboratories and resources, allowing higher contributions from the Einstein community to generate knowledge. Continuous walkways bridge the teaching and research wings, punctuated by a series of intimate meeting and study spaces on each level of the Center.